Rollin Stephens, charged with seducing Bessie Goff, a female under
twenty-one years of age under promise of marriage, was tried last week
and convicted, the jury fixing his punishment at three years in the
penitentiary. It was a hard fought case, Mr. J. F. Montgomery and Mr.
L.C. Winfrey appearing for the defendant; Messrs. A. A. Huddleston, W.
A.
Coffey and Barksdale Hamlett for the Commonwealth. Soon after the
verdict Mr. Stephens was remanded to jail. By marrying the girl he could
escape imprisonment, or if the girl in open court would refuse to marry
him before sentence is passed, he would escape.
*****
A report in the June 5 edition noted Stephens had been conveyed to
Frankfort "last week" to begin serving his sentence. A later report, in
the August 28th issue, stated he had been pardoned by Gov. Stanley,
after he (Stanley) was presented with a
petition which had been "signed by nine of the jurors to whom Stephens
was tried before..."